13 MARCH 1971, Page 5

Drabble is what Drabble says

Miss Margaret Drabble appeared this week for the defence in an Old Bailey obscenity case, She was asked in cross-examination, 'Are you saying that if a book is well written and has literary merit that is enough, irres- pective of the subject matter?' She replied 'Yes'—and so far, perhaps, so good. But she went on to say, 'I would find it impos- sible to regard a book on witchcraft as being• well written.' How censorious our would-be liberators can be, how moralising, how ignor- ant, how smug. If Miss Drabble finds it im- possible for someone to write well about a subject of which she disapproves, she should shut up and go home.